I recently blew out a sidewall on a front tire. All 4 were Firestone steeltex R4S. I had 2 tires in my garage that were the original Firestone Steeltex AT tire. The R4S and AT's have similar miles on them. I left the R4S on the back and put the AT's on the front. I want to run them for a while and then get new ones before the snow flies. All 4 tires are the stock size, 245/75/R16.

I was told by a Firestone guy that if I lose a tire after a certain amount of wear, I should replace ALL 4 TIRES, Not just 2. He said that if the wear on the old tires is beyond a certain point, that on a 4WD I can cause real problems with the transfer case, etc.....

It makes some sense, but I can only see a problem WHILE in 4WD, especially 4 LOW, or on any dry surface. If in 4 HI and on slippery surface is there really a problem? Is there any reason I need to replace all 4 tires NOW or can I run different tires front to back for a while? Thanks for any input. SPICER

I recently blew out a sidewall on a front tire. All 4 were Firestone steeltex R4S. I had 2 tires in my garage that were the original Firestone Steeltex AT tire. The R4S and AT's have similar miles on them. I left the R4S on the back and put the AT's on the front. I want to run them for a while and then get new ones before the snow flies. All 4 tires are the stock size, 245/75/R16.

I was told by a Firestone guy that if I lose a tire after a certain amount of wear, I should replace ALL 4 TIRES, Not just 2. He said that if the wear on the old tires is beyond a certain point, that on a 4WD I can cause real problems with the transfer case, etc.....

It makes some sense, but I can only see a problem WHILE in 4WD, especially 4 LOW, or on any dry surface. If in 4 HI and on slippery surface is there really a problem? Is there any reason I need to replace all 4 tires NOW or can I run different tires front to back for a while? Thanks for any input. SPICER

I assume you use 4WD only when needed (like in the snow, offroad etc. when you need more traction) - so that surface is generally slippery of some kind. So there is NO problem using different tires of the same size IMHO. If the size front to rear is different that compensation will go to the driveline and tires since there is no diff in the middle like the permanent 4WD SUVs have.

Tires are cheap and I would change all 4 at the same time since all 4 are worn out the same (same with an exhaust change complete front to rear).:ro)

As long as the tire size is the same, low tread in the front and lets say new tread in the rear or vise versa is not going to hurt anything in your drivetrain,he is blowing smoke up yer a$$,the tread differance maybe 3/16th of a differance,he just wanted to sell you 4 tires.

To be sure, air the tires up, put them on your truck, and measure them. I would avoid it if you can, but if you don't use 4WD that much you should be OK.

Tires are cheap and I would change all 4 at the same time since all 4 are worn out the same (same with an exhaust change complete front to rear).:ro)

WHAT TAX BRACKET ARE YOU IN!?!?!? Cheap? Over $800 for 4 new Bridgestone Dueler REVO's, 265's.

Here is my point. I had 4 good R4S's on the truck and 2 AT's in the garage as spares (these AT's came on the truck, I ruined a couple saved the 2 good ones and put them in the garage). All of these tires have similar wear.

Then I blew one of the R4S's, so instead of running 3 R4S's and 1 AT, I put the AT's on the front and left the R4S's on the back.

The dealer said that if the tread depth isn't within so many 32nds of each other I could damage the drivetrain. I disagreed unless I am in 4WD on dry ground.

What I want to do is burn these tires down before I spend the bucks for all new. I am at 49,000 miles, but these tires are at about 30-35,000. SPICER

measure the out side diameter of the two kinds of tires if they are the same no problem i have seen as much as 2" difference in circumfrence on the same size tire if they aree within 1/2 " i would not wory about it any more and you could create problems but only if you are in 4wd in 2wd you will never have a problem as long as each pair is on the same axel